1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the design and generation of multimeric cytokines that retain in vitro activity and show enhanced in vivo efficacy. The dock-and-lock (DNL) method is used to produce tetrameric cytokines that are anchored on a humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb) by site-specific conjugation of a cytokine-based DDD moiety with a recombinant IgG, in which each of the two antibody heavy chains is fused to an AD moiety and dimers of the DDD moiety bind to each AD moiety. In a preferred embodiment a humanized anti-CD20 MAb (hA20) is conjugated to interferon-α2b (IFNα2b) to form a 20-2b DNL construct that comprises four copies of IFNα2b. The cytokine-MAb constructs are of use to treat a variety of disease states and show greater potency against target cells, such as tumors, than the parent MAb alone, the cytokine alone, a non-conjugated combination of MAb and cytokine or cytokine conjugated to a control MAb.
2. Related Art
Interferon-α (IFNα) has been reported to have anti-tumor activity in both animal models of cancer (Ferrantini et al., 1994, J Immunol 153:4604-15) and human cancer patients (Guttennan et al., 1980, Ann Intern Med 93:399-406). IFNα can exert a variety of direct anti-tumor effects, including down-regulation of oncogenes, up-regulation of tumor suppressors, enhancement of immune recognition via increased expression of tumor surface MHC class I proteins, potentiation of apoptosis, and sensitization to chemotherapeutic agents (Gutterman et al., 1994, PNAS USA 91:1198-205; Matarrese et al., 2002, Am J Pathol 160:1507-20; Mecchia et al., 2000, Gene Ther 7:167-79; Sabaawy et al., 1999, Int J Oncol 14:1143-51; Takaoka et al, 2003, Nature 424:516-23). For some tumors, IFNα can have a direct and potent anti-proliferative effect through activation of STAT1 (Grimley et al., 1998 Blood 91:3017-27). Indirectly, IFNα can inhibit angiogenesis (Sidky and Borden, 1987, Cancer Res 47:5155-61) and stimulate host immune cells, which may be vital to the overall antitumor response but has been largely under-appreciated (Belardelli et al., 1996, Immunol Today 17:369-72). IFNα has a pleiotropic influence on immune responses through effects on myeloid cells (Raefsky et al, 1985, J Immunol 135:2507-12; Luft et al, 1998, J Immunol 161:1947-53), T-cells (Carrero et al, 2006, J Exp Med 203:933-40; Pilling et al., 1999, Eur J Immuol 29:1041-50), and B-cells (Le et al, 2001, Immunity 14:461-70). As an important modulator of the innate immune system, IFNα induces the rapid differentiation and activation of dendritic cells (Belardelli et al, 2004, Cancer Res 64:6827-30; Paquette et al., 1998, J Leukoc biol 64:358-67; Santini et al., 2000, J Exp med 191:1777-88) and enhances the cytotoxicity, migration, cytokine production and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) of NK cells (Biron et al., 1999, Annu Rev Immunol 17:189-220; Brunda et al. 1984, Cancer Res 44:597-601).
The promise of IFNα as a cancer therapeutic has been hindered primarily due to its short circulating half-life and systemic toxicity. PEGylated forms of IFNα2 display increased circulation time, which augments their biological efficacy (Harris and Chess, 2003, Nat Rev Drug Discov 2:214-21; Osborn et al., 2002, J Pharmacol Exp Ther 303:540-8). Fusion of IFNα to a monoclonal antibody (MAb) can provide similar benefits as PEGylation, including reduced renal clearance, improved solubility and stability, and markedly increased circulating half-life. The immediate clinical benefit of this is the requirement for less frequent and lower doses, allowing prolonged therapeutic concentrations. Targeting of IFNα to tumors using MAbs to a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) can significantly increase its tumor accretion and retention while limiting its systemic concentration, thereby increasing the therapeutic index. Increased tumor concentrations of IFNα can augment its direct antiproliferative, apoptotic and anti-angiogenic activity, as well as prime and focus an antitumor immune response. Indeed, studies in mice using syngeneic murine IFNα-secreting transgenic tumors demonstrated an enhanced immune response elicited by a localized concentration of IFNα (Ferrantini et al., 2007, Biochimie 89:884-93).
CD20 is an attractive candidate TAA for the therapy of B-cell lymphomas using MAb-IFNα. Anti-CD20 immunotherapy with rituximab is one of the most successful therapies against lymphoma, with relatively low toxicity (McLaughlin et al., 1998, J Clin Oncol 16:2825-33). Since rituximab is a chimeric antibody that can show immunogenicity in some patient populations and has considerably long infusion times for the initial administration (Cheson et al., 2008, NEJM 359:613-26), a better candidate for CD20-targeting is the humanized MAb, veltuzumab (Stein et al., 2004, Clin Cancer Res 10:2868-78).
Combination therapies with rituximab and IFNα currently under clinical evaluation have shown improved efficacy over rituximab alone (Kimby et al., 2008, Leuk Lymphoma 49:102-12; Salles et al., 2008, Blood 112:4824-31). These studies demonstrate some advantages of this combination as well as the drawbacks associated with IFNα. In addition to weekly infusions with rituximab, patients are typically administered IFNα three times/week for months and suffer the flu-like symptoms that are common side effects associated with IFNα therapy and which limit the tolerable dose. An anti-CD20 MAb-IFNα conjugate could allow the less frequent administration of a single agent at a lower dose, limit or eliminate side effects, and may result in far superior efficacy.
A need exists in the art for improved antibody-cytokine conjugates that exhibit improved in vivo efficacy, decreased toxicity and superior pharmacokinetic properties.